Author of dark Appalachian stories
A young girl with an unusual connection to the natural world must confront the violence
and secrets within
her family.
When a mysterious door offers escape from a difficult life, a young woman must decide what she’s willing to leave behind.
A collection of speculative stories from twelve authors exploring Appalachia through horror, science fiction, and fantasy.
“In the Hands of a Different God” in Pseudopod
“Little and Less” in Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Daniel” reprinted in Podcastle (originally appeared in On Spec)
“Hainted” in Fantasy & Science Fiction
“The Dead Father Cookbook” in Strange Horizons
“Fallow” in Shimmer
“Three Lessons Skyrim Taught Me About Living with PTSD” in Reactor
“Fire in My Bones” in The Oxford American
What the Wolf Wants in What We Are Becoming
“Hainted” in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror: 2019
“Fallow” in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror: 2018
“Fallow” in Shimmer 2017: The Collected Stories
Noah Ashley Blooms (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary, Appalachian author of two critically acclaimed novels, Where I Can’t Follow and Every Bone a Prayer, and editor of These Dreaming Hills: Dark and Wondrous Tales from Appalachia. Their work has been nominated for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize, Weatherford Award, and Judy Gaines Young Book Award, and they have been named a South Arts State Literary Fellow for Kentucky.
Their fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, The Oxford American, Reactor, and elsewhere.
They received their MFA as a John and Renee Grisham Fellow at the University of Mississippi and have been awarded residencies and scholarships from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Clarion Writer’s Workshop, Appalachian Writer’s Workshop, and others.
October 16, 2026
Berea Arts Council at 7:00pm
Berea, KY
These Dreaming Hills launch event. Blooms will moderate a reading and conversation with three contributors.
November 7, 2026
Joseph Beth Bookstore
Lexington, KY
Blooms will appear at the Kentucky Book Festival.
November 21, 2026
7th Son Books & Blooms
Hyden, KY
Blooms will moderate a reading and conversation with three contributors from These Dreaming Hills
If you’d like to request a blurb, please reach out to Alexandra Levick at Writers House.
All other inquiries can be sent directly to Blooms using the form below.